Love Letter to Jack

Happy Valentine's Day, Hyde Park! Please enjoy the below, fostermom Laura S.'s Love Letter to Jack.

"Captain Jack Sparrow, a cat of unknown provenance, started showing up at a feral colony looking for food and affection. The colony keepers noticed his good nature and contacted Hyde Park Cats to see if we could try to find him a home. He was brought to my house October 17th, 2010.

The lady brought me this lanky, very skinny, and dirty cat. He had been tested for FIV and FeLV and was -/-. He weighed 9.4 pounds, but you could tell he was meant to be a bigger cat. His ribs were very obvious. Despite his pitiful state, my roommate and I were amazed at his beauty, his gentleness and capacity for love despite his recent hardships. He was in a bit of shock at the recent events: for days he wouldn’t eat unless someone was there to encourage him. I named him Captain Jack Sparrow because his “eyeliner” resembled another lovable rogue by that name.

As Jack began to grow accustomed to his new surroundings, he really bloomed. Captain Jack loved everyone he saw. He loved belly rubs, let me cut his nails with no resistance or complaints, and was very docile. When I would wake up, he would immediately curl up next to me in the crook of my arm and just purr and purr. Heck, you just look at him and he would start to purr!

In December, I took him to the vet to get everything squared away for a potential adoption (at this point he weighed 10.7 pounds!), and Dr. Wake discovered that Jack had a heart murmur. The adoption didn’t work out: we had to determine the severity of his heart condition before we could find him a home.

Finally, in February we were able to get him to the specialist. His heart murmur is a grade 2 out of 6. Not terrible, but he will have to take medicine for the rest of his life in hopes of preventing the murmur from getting worse. We are still assessing the situation, and so far Jack has taken all of his exams in stride. At the vet yesterday, Dr. Williams and the tech assisting him described Jack as “awesome!” and “a real champ”. He didn’t bite or scratch them once despite getting his blood pressure taken. They’d never seen such a sweet, laid back cat.

All along, I have been secretly hoping to adopt Jack. I love him. The problem is that my cats never accepted him. They have been good with many other foster cats and kittens, but for some reason they just don’t like Jack. I tried to help them all to get along, but it just didn’t work out. Luckily, a new person and her roommates have opened their home to foster for Hyde Park Cats. I took Jack there last night. When I left, Jack had made himself comfortable on the bed and was eagerly accepting affection.

Jack came to us a skinny, shy 9.4 pound cat. He now is a 12 pound master snuggler! His confidence has grown, he is amazingly affectionate, and is the sweetest guy you could meet. His heart murmur will be a continuing issue for him the rest of his life, but I really hope someone out there is willing to take him home and love him as much as he deserves."

Readers, give yourself the ultimate Valentine this year -- a kitteh. Please email hydeparkcats@gmail.com to learn more about any of our cats and kittens available for adoption.